UK gadget retail site Ebuyer has been knocked offline as its £1 laptop deals caused an online stampede that flattened the site's servers.

Ebuyer failed to shore up its web systems ahead of the customer rush and the site was offline for several hours even before the offers officially opened at 11am today.

The tech site's "Cyber Monday" deals - with PCs, laptops, cameras, components and games reduced to £1 - must have proved more popular than expected. In effect, the Ebuyer team launched a DDoS attack on itself.

As of lunchtime Monday the site is still down.

Ebuyer confirmed that traffic for the £1 deals was what sent their site into a tailspin and said that customers were able to start making orders now if they kept refreshing the page. ®